New life
by blueshellman
Summary: Jack's town is safe and secured. But a reckless decision may become his last. He needs help, and salvation may come in the form of a little girl. Rated T for language and violence.
1. Trapped

A/N: My first fic, been thinking about writing this for a long time. I know my writing skills might not be the best, but i hope someone else enjoy this, any criticism is appreciated.

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><p>Chapter 1: Trapped<p>

Jack have been walking for quite some time now. Staring into the distance while letting his legs do the job. He has turned this into some sort of routine.

The town was secured. There wasn't a soul in the whole place, just him.

He arrived this place a few weeks ago and, having no desire to keep moving, decided to stay. The place itself was pretty small, no more than a couple of hundreads could have lived here before the outbreak.

This town was the best thing that happened to him in a while. For some reason hunters or infected haven't found it in the twenty-ish years this shit's been lasting. The only residents before him seemed to be the old bones in the porch of the biggest house in town, right in the middle of the main street. Before the outbreak the inhabitants of the town used that house for storage purposes, box after box of medicine, canned food and other mischelaneous goods where in there, a not so hidden treasure.

Jack rached the edge of the town."yep, still just me here" he murmured. He was bored. Patroling this place was turning into a chore. No one else in the whole universe seemed to know about this place's existance. Why he should expect that to change?.

Then he took the decision to walk a little further, break the routine a little bit. He reached the treeline and stopped again. He was forgetting something. A loud bang reached his ears right when the rope grabbed his feets. Just in a second he found himself hanging, victim of his own trap, the same one he setted up weeks ago "well, at least it worked" he said to himself, trying to stay calm, difficult task.

He had no means to break free, no knife, no handgun (which have just slipped from his fingers), no nothing. So he hanged there waiting for god to do something, anything. Panic started to slowly settle in his guts.

"So this is fucking it?" He asked after at least an hour of seeing the world upside down. He was hungry, skipping breakfast was not a smart idea.

He hanged upside down for so long that he started feeling deezy, a little more time and he would faint. And that would be it. If he fainted now he knew he would probably stay like that forever. But there was nothing he could do. He started drifting away while the pressure slowly started building in his head. Just before darkness engulfed his vision a solitary figure appeared on the other side of town. A short, redheaded girl.

He closed his eyes.


	2. Strangers

A/N: i wrote a first chapter so why not writing a second one. I hope the whole story will be a long one. Remember, i'm not a very experienced writer,so any criticism is appreciated.

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><p>Chapter 2: Strangers<p>

"_So this is how it feels_?" Dying wasn't the worst thing to happen to him. Not even close. He felt peacefull. His head was aching, but the pain was slowly retreating, replaced by a feeling of general numbness.

He felt a sudden breeze against his body. It feels good, but just for a moment. Something was wrong and he knew it. He realized he was falling right when his back hitted the ground, expulsing every particle of air from his lungs.

He stayed still in the ground coughing and trying to breath some air. He's not hanging anymore, which is a relief for his head, now red like a tomato with veins and arteries protruding all over due to the preassure they were under just a second ago.

What's not a relief for him is that someone just freed him and now he was completely vulnerable, still feeling dizzy and the rope still binding his feets. He opened his eyes.

"Are you okay?" the girl standing in front of him, with a switchblade in one hand and a gun in the other, asked.

"Of course not!" Jack replied while trying to release his feets from the rope.

The girl pointed the gun to his head, making him stop immediately. "Stay still" she said with urgency.

She slowly walked towards him, still pointing the gun somewhere between his eyes. She crouched down at his feet and with a quick move cutted the rope that used to hold his feets together.

He was thankfull for that, but noticed the gun was still pointed at him, so he decided to keep his mouth shut. Sometimes an ill thought out phrase could get you killed.

To his surprise it wasn't the girl who talked next. "Ellie!" right next to him appeared the figure of an old-ish man vissibly tired and angry "never run away like that, you know it's difficult to keep up".

"Sorry Joel, but it really seemed this guy needed some help" Joel was going to reply, but something seemed to click in his mind, and he immediately pulled out a revolver and pointed it at Jack.

"What are you doing here, kid?" He asked with a threatening tone.

"_If someone is going to pull the trigger, it will probably be this guy_" he thought. Now there were two guns pointed at him, and a question asked directly to him. That was the time to talk.

"Walking, minding my business" he answered with the friendliest tone he could. "I mean, I've been here for almost a month now, I am in my wright to walk around, don't you think?"

"Wait" Ellie said, realizing the implications of what he just said "if you have been here for so long did that means the trap was..." she pointed to the tree were the cutted rope was still hanging and then to him.

His silence confirmed her thoughts. Her lips twitched before a big smile formed in her face. Obiously finding the fact he fell in his own trap hilarious. That annoyed him, but at the same time he couldn't deny that he would probably be laughing his ass off in her place.

Joel didn't seemed so amused. But slowly lowered the gun, clearly thinking someone so clumsy couldn't be a real threat, specially been unarmed. "So you say you live here..." he paused. He seemed nervous, like if he was struggling with himself. He finally took a decision "what you got?"

Jack knew exactly what he meant. "Plenty of food, medicine, clothes, anything someone would need to survive" Jack didn't wanted to share that kind of intel. But he was outnumbered and Joel looked like a giant bear, he had no chances against him.

Joel looked troubled again. He looked at Ellie for a second and then turned to him.

"I got a deal for you".


	3. Jackson

A/N: I had some spare time so i decided to finish a third chapter today. As always some constructive critisicm is appreciated, remember i still have a lot to learn. I really hope you enjoy this.

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><p>Chapter 3: Jackson<p>

Tommy has been sitting there for hours now, but he didn't felt uncomfortable, just worried. Joel and Ellie left the town that morning, right now the sun was touching the trees in the distance and there was still no sign of them.

He was at the watchtower number 2 from which he had a pretty decent view of Jackson and it's surroundings, but his eyes were fixed at the cliff just in front of him. Joel and Ellie could appear there at any moment. He felt guilt building up, he send them outside. This was supposed to be a simple scavenging mission, but even in this missions things could go wrong at any moment.

He was doing his best to keep any negative thought out of his mind, but it was getting increasingly difficult. They have been out for 12 hours now, they were just supposed to check out a little isolated cabin a couple of miles south a scout founded a week before.

The sun dissapeared behind the distant trees and shadows covered Jackson. Without been able to just sit there any more, Tommy standed up and started roaming the viewpoint, never seeing anything but the cliff.

The walkie-talkie on his waist emitted a familiar sound, he immediately answered the call. "Tommy here". "Movement, south east" was the only answer, but it was more than enough. He focused in that direction. There was movement and for his immence relief he saw Joel and Ellie. But they were not alone, someone else was there. The three figures carefully descended by one side of the cliff. Tommy went down the ladder, excited to meet his brother and the little girl.

The main gates opened as soon as he reach it. Tommy was relieved to see they were fine. Ellie and Joel looked both tired and dirty but nothing a good night of rest couldn't fix.

The third member of the group was a boy not much taller than Ellie and maybe a couple of years older. He had a pale skin, short black hair and the strangest pair of eyes he ever saw, one pale blue, the other one dark brown. The contrast between them was so notorious it also attracted the stares of the guards. Tommy even saw a guard at the watchtower number 1 aim at his face with the scope of his sniper rifle, he didn't thought it was for precaution.

The boy had a black t-shirt, a grey winter jacket, green cargo pants and a pair of dirty red sneakers. He also seemed tired, and having a closer look Tommy could see a collection of small scars around his face. "_Apparently this kid have seen some action_" he though.

Tommy gave a big hug to Joel before anyone could say anything. "You worried me a little back there" he said ending the hug.

"Sorry, little brother, we run across this little surprice" Joel pointed at the kid and then at his backpack. Which was completely full.

"Wow, what you have back there?" It was not only his backpack the full one. Ellie and the boy also had some heavy cargo.

"AND THIS IS NOT ALL!" Ellie said. Excited to give the good news. "There's a whole fucking house FULL of everything you could imagine!".

Ellie knew supplies were running low after the crude winter, so telling Tommy he should not be worried about food or medicines any more, at least for a while, brought a big smile to her face.

"A full house?" He was skeptical to say the least.

"Well, saying that there are plenty of food and supplies in there would be a fucking understatement" her smile was growing by the second.

"Where?" Tommy turned his attention to Joel. He needed a serious answer, this finding could be really important.

"There's a well hidden group of houses south from here near the cabin you send us to check out" Joel said. "We would have missed it without the help of this boy right here" he pointed to the stranger, who seemed to be embarrassed when Joel mentioned his 'help'.

"Thank you, kid" Tommy said while giving him a handshake.

"We promised him a safe place to stay in exchange for all this" Joel said next.

Tommy was surprised by this. They were used to strangers. New families joined Jackson all the time. But he would never expect Joel of all people to trust a complete stranger enough to invite him himself. If Joel could trust a stranger then everything was possible.

"Don't worry then, kid. You will have a warm bed to lie on tonight" Tommy said.

"Name's Jack" the boy said, visibly annoyed at the constant 'kid' treatmeant. That earned a couple of chuckles from Tommy.

"Okay Jack, welcome to Jackson"


	4. Insomnia

A/N: I enjoyed writing this and I hope you enjoy reading it. As always, critisicm is appreciated.

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><p>Chapter 4: Insomnia<p>

Jack was alone, staring at the door, waiting for something to come out and kill him at any moment. There was blood everywhere. Infected, fireflies and hunters lifeless bodies were spread all over the room. He had a machete in his left hand and an old shiv in his right one.

He was by himself now in this shithole. If he wanted to made it out alive, he should get moving.

He opened the door.

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><p>He was alone in the room. It was small, just an old bed, a window from which he could see the main gate of Jackson and a mirror on the wall. He could see his reflection in front of him. His right eye (the blue one) looked like a floating brilliant dot in the darkness, looking as creepy as ever. He could also feel the cold sweat on his back and chest, that nightmare was becoming a problem.<p>

Every night for the last couple of months, he would woke up in the middle of the night, feel like shit for an hour or two and then sleep until the first rays of the sun appeared over the horizon. He didn't feel like going back to sleep tonight though, so he stood up and opened the door.

He was leaving the guests room in the first floor of a two-storey house, the first floor had a kitchen, a bathroom, a living room with just a couch and a fireplace in it and a small little room Joel and Ellie used for storage purposes. The second floor was composed by another bathroom (this one with a shower), Ellie's bedroom and Joel's bedroom.

Jack decided to check out the kitchen, maybe get something to eat and try to calm down. He didn't expected to see the lights on and Joel seated at the kitchen counter. He was using a grey t-shirt and Jack could clearly distinguish sweat marks all over it.

"Rough night, Joel?" Jack asked, revealing his presence. Joel looked surprised, but just for a second. He was good at hiding any kind of emotions.

"What are you doing awake? It's late " Jack knew Joel wasn't really worried about him. But it was good to have someone to talk. And Joel seemed to think the same thing.

"I guess I'm doing the same thing as you." Jack answered "we clearly have some shit to deal with".

Joel looked at him, and for the first time Jack saw something other than a neutral stare. He saw emphaty.

"Want some?" Joel raised an opened can of beans.

"Sure" Jack was skipped dinner last night. All the events of the last day leaved him exausted. So as soon as Joel and Ellie showed him his room he went to sleep.

They eated the beans in silence until the can was empty, Jack was still hungry but he didn't wanted to take advantage of Joel's hospitality (not in front of him at least).

"If you're hungry go take more, kid" Joel said. Jack gived him a confused look. "This is your home now, too. So why not sharing some food?"

"You don't seem like the kind of guy that's fond of sharing" Jack said.

"A year ago I would have probably killed you for even thinking about taking my food" Joel said. "But I suppose that's the thing with Jackson, with time you realise that sharing your stuff is the best way to survive among civilized people".

"A favor for a favor, sounds familiar" he stood up and grabbed another can of beans from the shelves, Joel passed him an opener."Thanks"

"Now you owe me one" Joel said between chuckles.

"Ja... hilarious" Jack consumed the beans in silence under Joel's scrutiny.

When Jack putted down the empty can he looked at joel, he seemed lost in his thoughts. Whatever kept him awake this night was hunting him. It was unsettling to think something could bother a seasoned survivor like him so much.

"So... what's the plan for tomorrow?"

"You are free to do whatever you want for now, if Tommy ever needs an extra pair of hands he might call you. New people are generally left alone for some time" Joel seemed to be thankfull for having someone to talk with. Jack suspected this was not the first time he wandered around the house in the middle of the night. But now with another insomiac there he at least didn't had to be alone.

"So exploring it is, any interesting place I should start with?"

"If you want to fell usefull, then go to the stables, Danny mentioned something about needing some extra help".

"Great" Jack said. He loved horses and he would enjoy having something to do. "Who the hell is Danny?"

Joel smiled. "Danny's in charge of the stables, you'll meet him tomorrow, an interesting guy to say the least".

He made a short pause.

"Didn't mention this before" Joel said "but Ellie and I think you have an interesting pair right there" he pointed at his eyes.

Jack laughed at the comment. "Yeah, I'm a fucking mutant, even I find it creepy sometimes".

"Well, it's an interesting...view" Joel smiled.

"Sorry Joel, but THAT was the lamest and unfunniest attempt of a joke in the history of the universe" Jack was also smiling.

They remained in silence for a minute, enjoying each other's company, and then Joel stood up."C'mon, kid. We may get a couple more hours of sleep tonight. And you know we need them."

Jack didn't argue with him, he also stood up, turned off the lights and headed to his room. Before opening the door he turned to face Joel's silhouette "Thank you, Joel". Joel nodded in his direction and went upstairs. Jack smiled and entered the room.

A minute later he was already asleep.


	5. Stables

A/N: I feel it took me too much time to write this chapter, they are kinda short. But I always enjoy to write, even if I don't have much experience. Hope you enjoy and remember criticism is always appreciated.

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><p>Chapter 5: Stables<p>

Ellie woke up late, she was exhausted last night so it didn't surprised her. She stood up, her bedroom was composed by a bed, a window facing the front gate of Jackson and an old drawer.

She walked to the drawer and got dressed, when she was done she was wearing a black long-sleeved t-shirt, her only pair of jeans and an old pair of grey socks.

She grabed her backpack from the floor and took a look inside, she immediately found what she was looking for, 'No pun intended, Vol III'. The book was a present from Joel for her sixteenth birthday, he founded it at an old bookstore during a scavenging mission a month ago and since then she read it whenever was possible.

She walked to the door, got out of the room, and walked down the stairs to the first floor. Joel was there, alone, sitted at the kitchen counter.

" 'morning" he said.

"Hi, Joel" She sitted in front of him and left the book on the counter. Joel prepared breakfast, a plate with eggs and bacon was laying right in front of her.

When the last piece of bacon dissapeared from the plate she asked " Where's 'funny eyes'?"

Joel chuckled and answered "he's on his way to the stables, I mentioned Danny needed help and he was eager to proof himself usefull"

"What the fuck, Joel!?" Ellie stood up, runned to the living room and grabbed her sneakers. "I was going to help him today with the horses!"

Joel knew that perfectly well "you might need some help..."

"Fuck that!" If Jack reached the stables first, he would get to brush and clean the horses while she would get to dispose of their shit. "When did he left?"

"Almost an hour ago, but..."

She was already out, running through the street.

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><p>Jack wandered around the town for almost half an hour before deciding to ask for directions. He set his eyes on the porch of a small house at his right, where an old bearded man was seated cleaning his revolver with a dirty looking mop.<p>

"Excuse me".

The man ignored him.

"Hey, Oldie!".

"Kid, if I don't talk to you, that probably means I don't want to waste my fucking time talking to you" he casually commented while submerging the mop into a bucket full of water.

"Well, sorry. I just need to know were the stables are"

"Just follow the street, it's a big red building, can't miss it" the man looked and sounded annoyed.

"Thank you..."

"Jack"

Jack shouldn't be surprised, after all his name was fairly common.

"My name is also Jack so... what if from now on I call you old Jack and you call me young Jack, otherwise it would fell weird" he tried to lighten the mood of old Jack.

"What if from now on I call you little fucker?" old Jack didn't seemed as annoyed as before, but he still sounded tired of that conversation.

Jack knew he shouldn't push this any longer "okay, thank you old Jack" he said, then turned to his left and started walking again.

"Bye bye little fucker"

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><p>The stables were just as old Jack described, a big red building, impossible to miss. It looked like a werehouse too him, but the citizens of Jackson have been working very hard and transformed it into the place to go if you need a horse. A big sign nailed near the white front door readed 'Stable'.<p>

Jack opened the door and took a look inside, it was a huge open space, hay covered the floor. At his right there were six improvised stalls made of whatever the people of Jackson considered could contain a horse, they looked solid enough. At his left he saw another six stalls, which made a total of twelve stalls. Jack counted ten horses, five at each side.

"Amazing, don't you think?" A man came out of one of the empty stalls at his left, he was in his mid-forties, well shaved and completely bald, his head looked like an egg. He was tall, and seemed like someone who could break a human in half if pissed. Joel was pretty big, but this guy was a giant. The dirty brown cargo pants and black denim jacket just maked him look even more dangerous.

"Pretty solid job, you made this?"

"We all did this, it's amazing what a group of people can do by working together" the giant said with pride.

"Danny, I guess" Jack said with a friendly smile on his face, Danny nodded.

"And you are the new kid, I heard some interesting rumors about you at dinner yesterday"

"The eyes?"

Danny burst out laughing, grabbing his sides. When he stopped tears were rolling down his cheeks. "_Seems like a cheerful guy"_ Jack thought.

"Pretty much. What's your name, son?"

"Jack..."

A loud bang at his back interrupted him. He turned around to find the door wide opened and Ellie in front of it, grabing her knees, trying to catch her breath. Sweat was running down her forehead.

"I... will not... clean... the horseshit"

"Ellie!" Danny seemed happy to see her "I was waiting for you"

"Of course you were, otherwise... I would be fucking pissed". She slowly started breathing normally. Then her face lit up when Danny grabbed a brush and a bucket of water from a corner.

"I think you will like this, Ray needs a good cleaning and Peck just came back from the outside." He handed the brush and the bucket to Ellie "everithing else you need is at the last stall on the left."

"Thank you, Danny!" She then took off to the stalls with a big smile on her face "good luck, you'll need it 'funny eyes' " she murmured into Jack's left ear.

He didn't knew what she meant.

"Well Jack" Danny said next "what can I do for you?"

"Joel told me you would appreciate an extra pair of hands"

"Of course, boy" Danny went to the corner and then handed a stinky shovel to Jack. "Last stall on the right, I need everything inside these sacks" he also handed Jack three big sacks.

Jack walked to the last stall on the right and took a look.

"Well, that's a big pile of shit"


	6. Horses and puns

A/N: This chapter is shorter than the last two, but i really enjoyed writing it. I hope you enjoy reading it. And as always, critisicm is appreciated.

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><p>Chapter 6: Horses and puns<p>

When Ellie and Jack got out of the stable, only one of them was smiling, the other one was staring into nothingness, trying not to puke.

Both of them had dirt on their faces and both of them smelled like shit.

Jack worked with the steaming pile of manure for almost an hour and then he took the sacks to the other side of Jackson, to the farm, were he left them at the front door as instructed by Danny, then he came back to the stable. Without giving him time to rest, Danny gave Jack the task to learn and remember the names of every horse, arguing that it was impossible to work with horses you don't know.

He dedicated an hour to learn every name. First Ray and Peck, the two dirty stallions. Then Felicity, a young mare. Fenix, the oldest, and Felix, the youngest. Goliath, a gigantic 4-legged black monster, the biggest. Rob, a stallion and Tara, a mare, both completely white. And finally the smallest, Gwen and a complete piece of shit by the name of Callus the second, who kicked Jack so hard on the stomach that it almost left him unconsious, Danny said he was the newest horse, which meaned the wildest. Ellie founded him wandering around the woods just two months ago.

" I don't think I love horses so much any more" Jack said, resting a hand on his stomach.

"C'mon, you just need a shower. Then you'll realise that you love them even more now" Ellie tried to cheer him up "when it's about horses, you can't love them enough".

"I literally smell like shit and my stomach will probably never be the same again"

"If you didn't wanted to work hard then you shouldn't offer your help to people, specially Danny. Will you come back tomorrow?" Danny asked them to come back just before they leaved.

"Can't say no to Callus" Jack was not looking foward to meet that horse again, but another day with stuff to do seemed good to him. He liked to work, phisical activities distracted him from unwanted memories. But he was sure his scumbag brain was going to bring those up during the night.

They walked down the street in silence for several minutes until Ellie turned to him and said "okay, let's bring a smile to that serious face"

Jack sighed "Joel warned me about this...shoot"

Ellie grinned "what is a pirate's favourite letter?"

"You'd think it'd be R but 'tis the C" he answered immediately.

Ellie looked genuinely surprised "where did you learned that?"

"I'm familiar with the genious of Will Livingston"

"Fuck me, you can't be serious. You read the books?"

"A guy accidentally killed himself with a nail gun..." he started.

"... he nailed it" she finished.

"Incredibly lame and incredibly awesome, just like I like it"

"Fuck yeah" she said while raising her right hand.

Jack hesitated for a second before smiling and giving her a high-five. "Fuck yeah" he murmured.

"Weird eyes AND a sense of humor, there's something you don't have?"

Jack's smile slowly faded "there are plenty of things I don't have".

Ellie recognised his expression. She decided to keep her mouth shut for once.

Jack appreciated her silence.

A minute later they saw the house at the distance, in front of the main gate. Joel was sitted on the porch, playing an old guitar.

When Joel saw them he putted the guitar down.

"Why the long face, kid?" Joel asked Jack.

"It's nothing, don't worry about me"

Joel stared at him for a second and then continued. "Well, you two smell like shit, literally. So what about a shower?"

"Me first, I can't stand myself a second longer" Ellie said while hurriedly entering the house leaving Joel and Jack alone.

"So, kid. What do you think?"

Jack knew what Joel meant. "I don't regret coming with you, but I can't see myself living here permanently".

"What's the problem?".

"It's not a problem with Jackson, it's a problem with me" Jack answered "I got stuff to deal with. Let's leave it there" without saying anything else he entered the house and headed to his room.


	7. Backpack

CT230R: Thank you!

A/N: this is an extra short chapter, but I think it's as long as it should. And remember, I still have a lot to learn, I write so I can improve, and that means any criticism is appreciated.

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><p>Chapter 7: Backpack<p>

When Jack closed the door behind him, he walked towards his bed and looked under it.

His old backpack was laying right where he left it. Jack grabbed it, opened it and dropped all its contents on the bed. He leaved the empty backpack at a side.

He stared at his most valued possessions. His whole life reduced to a pile of stuff on a bed.

He was thinking about Ellie's words "there's something you don't have?". Reminders of everything he had lost were now in front of him.

He grabbed an old photo from the pile. Jack looked at a younger version of himself, smiling at the camera. Beside him was an smiling girl, she was 2 years older but was as tall as him, she had long blonde hair and the same strange set of eyes he had, one pale blue, the other one brown.

Jack flipped the photo. On the back, written in blue, he could read 'the creepy bros'.

Things were good (or as good as they could be) and one day everything changed.

He turned his eyes toward the pile and immediately found what he was looking for, two firefly pendants:

JANE JORDAN 000340

JACK JORDAN 000341

This world was a strange place, one day you are an orphan struggling to survive and the other one you are a member of a militia. But the fireflies were only a bunch of empty promises. Jack had nothing but nightmares from his time with them.

"Fucking fireflies, just another group of assholes" he muttered.

Jane wasn't convinced about the fireflies, but she wasn't going to leave him, she would have followed him to hell if necessary. Jack was the reason the pendants were there at the pile right now. He was the reason his sister was dead...

"Jack" Ellie's voice called from the other side of the door "are you there?"

Jack didn't answered. He hurriedly took the backpack a filled it up again. He left it under the bed, walked towards the door and opened it.

"What's up?"

"God, are you okay?" Ellie seemed worried.

"Yes, I'm fine. Why?"

"Jack, you are crying" Ellie seemed really worried.

"No, I'm not" he quickly wiped away his tears "I'm tired, that's all"

Ellie was going to say something, but she changed her mind. After a second of silence she said "you should take a shower, you still smell like shit." Without saying anything else, she left.

Jack looked at his room for a second before leaving.

He knew this was going to be a rough night.


	8. Callus

A/N: Next chapter will kick off the story, It will be longer. But in the meantime, I hope you enjoy reading this. And as always, remember I'm an unexperienced writer, so any criticism is appreciated.

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><p>Chapter 8: Callus<p>

Jack and Ellie walked down the street, heading to the stable, anxious to find out what Danny prepared for them.

"You're not looking so hot" Ellie commented. He looked like shit.

" I couldn't sleep last night" His voice sounded weak and growly.

"Have anything to say about that?"

"Not right now" his sleeping problems worried him, but he didn't had the energy to discuss about that right now, specially with someone he barely knew. "I'll be able to deal with anything Danny has in store for me, so don't worry"

Ellie didn't push it any further, he felt grateful about that.

They spotted the stable at the distance a couple of minutes later. Danny was waiting for them outside "Good to see you didn't chicken out, kid" he said with a friendly smile.

"That would be impossible"

"Good to know" He opened the door behind him and got into the stable. Jack and Ellie followed him. "Today we are going to do something I have been waiting to do for months, today is the day we finally mount Callus"

"What? You never mounted him before?" Jack asked.

"Kid, Callus is a wild horse, we need to gain his trust first. He needs to know we are not going to hurt him. It's a process that can take months or even years in some cases" Danny said, he seemed to enjoy lecturing him.

"You think he's ready? He still gets nervous around strangers" Ellie said.

"He just needs a firm hand" Danny looked excited "C'mon, let's see him"

They walked towards the right stalls and stopped in front of the sign that readed 'Callus the second'.

"Who names a horse 'the second', or 'Callus' for that matter?" Jack asked.

"That would be me and me. I found him, I name him" Ellie answered.

"Well... the name sucks"

"You suck"

"Keep it quiet, we don't want to scare him" Danny said, he took a step foward, opened the door and entered Callus stall.

Callus immediately reacted to the change in his environment, he stepped back and pointed his ears foward.

"Easy boy" Danny whispered, getting closer. He slowly raised a hand and petted him. "If he let's you pet him, you have a chance to mount him. Bring a saddle, Ellie."

She immediately left.

"What can I do?" Jack asked.

"You are going to mount him, Jack" Danny grinned.

"What!?"

"Callus seems to hate you, if you are able to tame him. Then it shouldn't be a problem to anyone else"

"That's... so... stupid"

"C'mon, boy. Just a minute ago you said that it was impossible for you to chicken out."

Ellie came back with the saddle "C'mon 'funny eyes'. You are not afraid of Callus, aren't you? He's such a good boy".

"Okay... I can do it." Jack wasn't sure about this, he was tired after a sleepless night.

"Great, let's get you prepped, Callus. Your domestication process ends today!"

* * *

><p>They were at an open space behind the stable, a fence delimitated a big circle in front of them. Callus was inside this circle with the saddle already on him. A small crowd formed around the fence, waiting to see some action.<p>

"Okay kid, just remember, grab the reins and don't let go, no matter what. As soon as you mount him, you will trigger a response from him, he will try to get rid of you. The only thing you have to do is stay on him and don't let go of the reins. Easy deal" Danny gave his final instructions.

"Just don't die, okay?" Ellie said.

"Fuck you" Jack was really nervous now.

He walked towards the fence and jumped over it. The crowd of people now was silent. He slowly approached Callus. He grabbed the reins and in a fluid move, he sitted on the saddle.

As soon as his whole weight rested on him, Callus losted his mind. He first made a sudden move with his head that almost knocked him down. And then started jumping around the whole area. Jack could hear the crowd's exitement, but his attention was focused exclusively on his grip on the reins. Callus was desperately trying to eject him off his back, but Jack wasn't planning to fail. He just needed to keep himself on the saddle. But it was becoming increasingly difficult. He felt pain build up all over his body.

After what seemed like hours, which in reality were minutes, Jack's grip started to loosen. But right before he could give up. Callus loudly exhaled through his nose and calmed down.

The crowd roared as Jack realized he had control over the horse now, and not the other way around.

Danny jumped over the fence and aproached him "nothing like a good ol' battle between man and beast"

Jack smiled and petted Callus, grateful it was all over now. Right then he had an epiphany, maybe Jackson had much more to offer than he thought. Maybe he could stay for a little while there. Maybe he could slowly forget the past and build a new life for himself there.

Those were just dumb fantasies, and deep inside, he knew it.

He decided to enjoy the good times while they lasted.


	9. Two months later

Chapter 9: Two months later

"Dear magic ball, will Ellie ever admit that I'm funnier than her?" Jack shook the big black ball "very doubtful. Hey, this thing seems legit"

"Jack, I am funnier than you" Ellie stated from the other side of the room.

They were exploring an old basement full of stuff. Anything deemed useless by the citizens of Jackson ended up there. They were surrounded by piles of mischelaneous objects, relics from a simpler past.

"Ellie, you are unable to say something remotely humorous that doesn't includes the words 'fuck' or 'shit'. Swearing gets old pretty fast, you know"

"Fuck you, that's bullshit." She made a pause to examine a small brass figure which represented a little winged kid. "I'm hilarious".

"Correction, the book you quote all the time is hilarious, you are just meh. Do you think Ellie is funny, magic ball?" He shook the ball again "Ask again later? Yeah you'll love that don't you"

Jack left the ball on the nearest pile of stuff and walked towards Ellie, avoiding all the objects around him. "Found anything interesting?"

"Look at this" she handed him a small cube "do you know what it is?"

Jack examined it, he have seen one of this before."Yes... it's a Rubik's cube"

"A Rubi-what?"

"It's a puzzle, you complete it when each face consist of one colour." He give it back to her.

She played with it for a second. "Oh, I get it"

"You want to make a bet? I give you one month to solve it"

"Deal. The stakes?"

"I'll think about them once you fail"

"Fail? Do you realize you just gave me ONE MONTH to solve this?"

Jack grinned, but didn't said anything.

He looked around him, there were so much interesting stuff that it was impossible to concentrate on something in particular.

"Why didn't you told me about this place before?" Jack have been living in Jackson for months, he founded weird that Ellie didn't even mention the most awesome place in the whole town before.

"I don't know... reasons?" Ellie opened the backpack she was carrying and left the cube inside.

Jack took a peek of the interior of the backpack, and before Ellie could do anything about it, he reached to the inside and extracted an old walkman.

"Hey, what the fuck!. Give me that back, NOW"

Jack ignored her complaints, he observed there was a tape inside the walkman. He took the headphones, put them on, and pressed the play button. Nothing happened. "Aw, that's disappointing, it's broken"

Ellie didn't say anything, she just took the walkman from his hands and throw it back into the backpack. "Don't you dare to touch this backpack ever again"

"C'mon, I just thought it looked interesting"

"EVER...AGAIN..." She was seriously pissed.

Jack struggled to find something to say, but just settled with a "sorry".

"We should go back home, it's getting late" She closed the backpack, putted it on and walked towards the stairs.

"I'm sorry, Ellie. Didn't know it would upset you so much"

"Well now you know, don't mess with the backpack" She said before going upstairs.

Jack standed there, thinking about what just happened. Invading her privacy like that was not a great idea, He thought about how he would felt if he found Ellie checking out his own backpack, he would be really pissed off too.

He went upstairs, the place was empty. He left the house and closed the door, a small sign nailed to it readed 'storage house'.

Without anything else to do, he headed to what now has becomed his home.

* * *

><p>When Jack opened the door, he found Joel sitted on the couch, reading a supply list. Something was weird, then it dawned on him "Joel, your beard!" He was clean-shaven.<p>

"Yeah, decided to get rid of it, at least for a while"

"I don't think I can get used to your face. Just grow it back, for your own sake" Joel was unrecognizable.

"Funny, Ellie said exactly the same thing"

"Where is she?" Jack's tone turned serious.

"Upstairs, she seemed upset. What did you do?"

"Messed with her backpack"

"You shouldn't have, kid" Joel said. And then turned to the list once again.

Jack thinked about what to do next, he decided to talk with Ellie. Maybe another round of appologies would calm her down.

He went upstairs and walked towards Ellie's room. He was about to knock the door when he noticed there was a small crack on it.

He turned his head and got closer to the door to hear inside, he didn't heard a sound. After a second of hesitation he crouched and peeked through the crack.

Ellie was sitted on the floor resting her back on the side of the bed. The backpack was opened right beside her. She was reading an old, yellow piece of paper, and she was crying. Big tears rolled down her cheeks when she flipped the piece of paper to read the other side.

Jack never saw her like that before, she always seemed unbreakable, a though survivor with a cheery exterior. But now she just seemed like a scared, little, defenceless girl.

He stood up and walked away.


	10. Duties

A/N: A lot of thought went into this chapter, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And remember, my goal is to improve as a writer, so constructive criticism is appreciated.

* * *

><p>Chapter 10: Duties<p>

Joel was having breakfast. He was alone in the kitchen, thinking about Tommy. After lunch he had a meeting with him, they would discuss winter rations. It was summer now, and that meaned they would start prepping for next winter. It was a complex operation, they had to manage the storage of canned food, think about clothing (what they needed with urgency and what could wait) and prepare a detailed schedule for any missions outside. In summary, the winter was a huge pain in the ass.

On top of that, he had the first night shift on the watchtower number 1.

"Fuck this shit!" Ellie's voice reached him from upstairs. Joel sighed before standing up, he walked towards the stairs. When he reached Ellie's room, he knocked the door.

"Something's wrong, Ellie?"

"Don't worry Joel... I'm fine" her voice sounded weak. Joel opened the door.

Ellie was laying on the bed, holding an old Rubik's cube.

"Where did you get that?" Joel didn't remember the last time he saw one.

"Jack found it yesterday, he gave me a month to solve it... but this fucking colors don't ..." She twisted the cube, anger building up again.

"Ellie, calm down" Joel recognised her tone, she sounded exhausted. And looked exhausted, her eyes were red and he could see noticeable black circles under them. "For how long have you been playing with that?"

"I don't know, an hour?"

"Ellie, don't lie"

"Okay...okay" she closed her eyes for a second and then continued "all night".

"Are you telling me you didn't sleep at all last night?"

"Yep" She was struggling to keep her eyes open.

Joel sighed. "That's it, give me the cube. You need to rest"

"I'm not even...tired. And...I will not... give..." She fell asleep before finishing the sentence.

Joel stared at her for a while. When it was clear she was not waking up any time soon, he carefully took the cube and leave it on top of Ellie's drawer.

He was going to leave when he heard a moan behind him.

"Please...don't" Ellie whispered, still asleep "don't leave me".

She started mumbling. Sweat forming on her forehead.

Joel looked at her again, feeling impotence. There was nothing he could do to comfort her.

"Please..."

"I'm here, baby girl" he rested a hand on her shoulder "I'm not going anywhere"

* * *

><p>"Movement, southwest" Ron said.<p>

Jack raised the rifle and looked through the scope. "I see it"

He took the walkie-talkie

"Watchtower 1, here's watchtower 2, there's a clicker, southwest, by the treeline. Orders?"

Jack waited for an answer, keeping an eye on the infected. "Target confirmed. Watchtower 2, you have permission to shoot"

"Roger that" he put the walkie-talkie down and turned his head to Ron "You know what to do, I just need one bullet"

Ron walked towards a bell at the side of the watchtower. He raised a small hammer and hit the bell one time, making a loud noise, hearable from every corner of Jackson . "One bell, one bullet. Do it" Ron said.

Jack raised the rifle once again. BANG. The clicker's head exploded, and his body immediately fell to the ground.

"Nice shot, Jack"

Jack gave him a smirk. "Thank you, Ron. But really, you expected something else?"

"Okay, don't be cocky" both of them chuckled.

Ron was his 'tower buddy', as Ellie called him. He was in his mid-thirties, had short brown hair, the beginning of a beard and was a bit overweight. He always used the same red shirt, a denim vest and an old pair of green cargo pants.

"Now we wait again" Jack and Ron were located on top of the watchtower number 2, they could see the whole town from there and had a nice view of the surroundings.

They had the morning shift, the sun was still hidden behind the trees, Jack calculated about 4 hours till the next shift.

"You're looking good today, Jack"

"I know" he said. He was in a good mood. This was one of those weird days in which he managed to have a good night's sleep.

They walked around the watchtower, scanning Jackson and it's surroundings, looking for any sign of trouble. After a couple of hours, Ron took a small wooden chair from a side and sat down, facing the exterior.

"I need to sit down, my legs are killing me"

Jack took another chair and also sat down.

After a while Ron said "So...you brought that book of yours?"

Jack grinned, he was waiting for Ron to say that. He grabbed a small bag he always brought to the watchtower and extracted a book from it, 'no pun intended Vol III'.

Jack opened the book, a message was written on the first page 'Jack's copy, not Ellie's '. He reached the page in which they stopped last time.

"Alright, here we go. 'I don't know why the dude with no legs can't stand me'."

"Great, lame AND offensive" Ron said sarcastically.

"Killer combo. This one is better, 'what if..."

The walkie-talkie on his waist emitted a sound. Jack sighed, closed the book, opened the bag and leave it inside. He answered the call "Watchtower 2"

"Movement, southwest. It's a big one" Jack and Ron stood up and faced that direction, a bloater was standing near the dead clicker.

"You think the shot attracted him here?" Jack asked. The bloater was coming closer to the wall, but it shouldn't be a problem.

"It's probable, it will take more than a single bullet to..."

BANG. Before Ron finished the sentence a bullet found it's way through his head. Blood, grey matter and pieces of his skull were spilled on the floor.

"What..."

BANG.


	11. Menace

Chapter 11: Menace

Joel left Ellie's room and went downstairs. His breakfast was still waiting for him at the kitchen counter. He hurriedly finished it.

Joel had nothing to do until lunch, so he decided to take a walk. He stood up and looked for a piece of paper, he took a pen and wrote:

'Ellie, I'll be with Tommy if you need me. Jack's shift ends at midday, wait for him and have lunch. There's food in the fridge. I'll be back late tonight, don't wait for me.'

He walked upstairs towards Ellie's room and slid the note under the door. A minute later he closed the front door behind him.

To his right he could see the main gate of Jackson. Surrounded by two watchtowers, watchtower number 1 at the left, and number 2 at the right.

He turned to the left, facing Jackson's main street, and started walking. He remembered how he felt when he and Ellie reached Jackson more than a year ago. Seeing people just walk through the street, without worrying about infected or hunters was strange for him, to say the least.

" 'morning, Joel"

Joel turned his head, an old man, at least a decade older than him, was staring at him from the porch of a small house.

"Jack, nice to see you" it was always nice to talk with him, they had a lot in common "How's the leg doing?"

"It's killing me right now, but I can't complain" Old Jack said, he walked towards Joel "How's the little fucker doing? I haven't seen him in a while"

Joel chuckled "he's adapting"

"Good to..."

DONG.

Jack stopped talking, they both waited.

BANG.

"One bell, one bullet" Jack said.

"What you think?"

"Probably an infected or a deer, lets just hope it was a deer"

Joel felt anxious. The bell was a sign the situation was under control, but it was never enough for him. "Maybe I should go..."

"Joel, I'm sure things are okay. If you worry too much, you'll get old"

He knew it was probably nothing to worry about "you're right"

"Of course I'm right. I'm the wise, old guy of the town, remember?"

Joel smiled.

"Joel!" Tommy was walking towards them " 'morning, Jack" he added when he reached them.

"Always good to see you, Tommy" Jack said "I'll leave you bros alone, have a nice day you two"

Old Jack went back to his small house.

"Chilling out, Joel?" Tommy asked with a friendly tone.

"Not exactly, what happened at the gate?"

"A clicker, apparently. Your boy made the shot, he's pretty good." Tommy was happy with Jack, he turned out to be a valuable asset for Jackson.

"He's a good kid"

Joel and Tommy walked together through the town for hours, it was one of those rare instances in which they manage to enjoy each others company without any big problem in mind. Ocassionaly Tommy stopped to talk through the walkie-talkie. He and Maria managed everything in Jackson. It was a very demanding job.

"Sometimes I'm happy I'm not you" Joel commented when Tommy put down the walkie-talkie for the tenth time.

"I can't imagine my life been different" the walkie-talkie emitted a sound for the eleventh time. Tommy sighed "but sometimes I wish it was easier"

He grabbed it and answered the call "Tommy here"

"Tommy, this is watchtower 1. We have a bloater"

"Bloater?" He thinked for a second, a bloater shoudn't be a problem for them."you have permission to shoot, ask watchtower 2 for assistance"

"Roger that"

They didn't move, waiting for the sound of the bells.

BANG.

Tommy sighed "I told them a million times that before shooting they..."

BANG.

The walkie-talkie sounded again.

"Tommy, we have a problem here"


	12. Sniper

A/N: Excuse me for the shortness of this chapter, this is short even for this story. This was actually the first part of a long chapter I'm working on, just couldn't resist the temptation of cutting where I did, I hope you enjoy.

* * *

><p>Chapter 12: Sniper<p>

BANG

A bullet grazed Jack's left arm. He immediately took cover. He examined his bleeding arm, it wasn't serious.

He took the walkie-talkie "Watchtower 1, what's going on?" He tried not to sound panicked, but it was difficult.

"Sniper, take cover." The guy at the other end sounded calm.

"And the bloater?"

"We need to take care of him"

"Any suggestion?"

"I need you to calm down, boy"

Jack closed his eyes. "Okay, I'm fine" he said a minute later.

"Now, is Ron with you?"

Jack looked at Ron, half of his head was missing, small pieces of it were spread across the floor.

"He's dead" Jack was trying to keep his emotions at bay, he didn't had time to mourn him right now.

"Fuck... okay, you see his backpack? There should be some granades inside" Jack saw the backpack next to Ron's feet, he crawled towards it and opened it.

"I see two granades"

"They should do, the bloater's 150 feet away. 14 o'clock. You think you can make the throw?"

Jack took a granade "I think so" he removed the safety pin and without standing up, he threw it. The granade exploded seconds later, followed by a loud moan.

"Nice, finish him"

Jack removed the second granade from the backpack.

BANG

"Fuck, you okay?"

"I was not the target... the bloater is dead"

Jack took a peek, the bloater was indeed dead, half his head was bloqn away by the sniper.

"What now?" All Jack wanted to do was leave the watchtower.

"Stay low, I'm looking for this fucker. Tommy and Joel are coming, wait for them"

"Great... you see something?"

"Believe me, if I see something, It will be dead immediately" the guy from the watchtower 1 still had a calm tone.

"I never asked for your name, you always were 'watchtower 1' for me"

"Now it's not the time. I'll personally give you my name later, okay?"

"Roger that" Jack put down the walkie-talkie and waited. Still behind cover. There was nothing now to distract him from the corpse of his former 'tower buddy'. The guy didn't deserved to go out this way, it was just unfair. But yet again, since when were things fair?

He didn't realized someone was going up the ladder of the watchtower until Joel's head pop-out from the corner in which the ladder was located.

"Joel! Keep..."

"I know" Joel crawled towards him. "Shit, Ron..."

"What's the plan?"

"First of all, I'm taking you out of here. The shooter will make a mistake, eventually. And when that happens, he will pay for this. Now c'mon, let's go. And keep your head down."

"Watchtower 2, you hear me?" A voice came out from the walkie-talkie.

"Yes, I hear you watchtower 1" Jack answered.

"Look at this"

Jack looked at Joel, then he slowly stood up. He saw a group of six people coming out from the treeline. In front of the group was the sniper, carrying what Jack recognised as a Barrett M82, a .50 caliber 'stick of death'. The sniper seemed to be the leader, he was a small man, had long blonde hair and a standard firefly uniform.

"Fuck... this is bad, this is really, really bad" Jack was shoked.

"What happens?" Asked Joel, surprised of his reaction.

"I know this guy"


	13. Ryan

Chapter 13: Ryan

"You... what?" Joel couldn't believe what Jack just said.

The small group stopped in front of the gates, guns down. "I don't recommend you to open fire, I'm not the only sniper around" The sniper said to no one in particular, facing Jackson.

"Now, Jack..." he continued " just imagine my surprise when I saw you here, alive and well. Sorry about your arm, couldn't resist the temptation."

"What the fuck do you want, Ryan?" Jack was livid, just to see that guy again made him feel sick.

"I thought it was clear, I wanted all the shit this town has to offer. I've been planning this for weeks, actually. But right when the attack begins, I see you. I just wanted to say hi, so I called it off. The bloatie was also a very unfortunate coincidence."

"So you will leave this town alone?"

"Fuck no, but now that the surprise factor is no longer a factor, I may be open to a deal"

"What are you thinking about?" This time it wasn't Jack who talked, but Tommy. He was at watchtower 1, toghether with the guy who helped Jack before.

"You must be the leader" Ryan said "Well, in exchange of not destroying your pretty town... I'll only ask for... 50 percent of your food and medicine?"

"You must be insane to think I'll accept that"

"Insane? A lot of people have called me that before, they generally end up dead... just like your sis, Jack!"

He grinned.

"I never knew..."

"Shut up, Joel" Jack never told anyone in Jackson about Jane or the fireflies. Ryan was making fun of him. He was reaching his limit. But he was not going to loose his temper.

"So Ryan, I see you left the fireflies. Did Marlene finally kick you out?" the group that followed him didn't show any sign of been members of the fireflies. And the firefly logo was missing from Ryan's old uniform.

"I guess news didn't reach this small isolated town, the fireflies are dead, Marlene is dead and Salt lake city is a ghost town now"

Tommy and the watchtower 1 guy seemed surprised, but neither Joel nor Jack reacted to the news.

"I guess it was just a matter of time" It has been a matter of time since the beginning. Jack founded the complete lack of reaction from Joel more surprising "you knew about this, Joel?"

"I... heard some rumors" he was lying. But Jack had other things to worry about.

"Well, I'm sure you're smart enough to fill in the blanks, so enough of catching up" Ryan said before turning to Tommy again "Town leader, your answer's still the same? This is your last chance"

"I'll not give you nothing, turn around and get lost" Tommy didn't even hesitate.

Ryan smiled again.

Jack knew that was what he wanted. Ryan seemed to enjoy messing with people. He was unpredictable, he always did stuff that didn't make any sence. He didn't change at all.

"I just wanted to give this town a chance of survival" Ryan used a serious tone for the first time " listen to me, maybe not today, or tomorrow, maybe not this month or even this year. But SOMEDAY... I'll be back. And it won't be pretty for you" Jack knew he meant it. "And Jack... you changed. I'll miss the cold-blooded motherfucker."

Without saying anything else, Ryan and the rest of his group turned around and walked away until they vanished behind the treeline.


	14. Fireflies and a dead guy

A/N: This is a super short chapter, the shortest yet, actually, but I think it's just as long as it needs to be. In other news, flashback time, you can expect more of this in the future. I hope you enjoy.

* * *

><p>Chapter 14: Fireflies and a dead guy<p>

The lifeless body of a thirty-something years old guy was laying in the middle of the woods.

"Oh man, look at this" Jane said.

"Yep, this dude is dead" Jack kicked the man's leg.

"Someone shot at him, bullet to the head" Jane pointed at the man's head, a small hole was located just above the left eye.

"What you think, hunters?"

"Most probable"

"Creepy bros!" Jack and Jane turned around, Ryan gave them a smirk. "Who's your friend?"

"We just found him, we think there can be a group of hunters..."

"We can deal with them, Jane" Jack was sure of it.

Two more fireflies appeared from the nearby trees. John and Toby.

"The hunters should be far by now, we'll camp here" Ryan said.

"What do we do with him?" Jane asked pointing her head towards the body.

"Well, I'm really tired of eating winter rations and fucking squirells... Toby, you used to be a butcher, you think you can work some magic on this guy?"

Jane was shoked by his answer "you're not seriously suggesting what I think you're suggesting"

"So you are the morality police now? Look, I'm not wasting 100 pounds of perfectly good meat just because it USED to be part of a man"

"This is crazy!"

"This is necessary"

"Cannibalism?"

"Jane" Jack didn't like this, but Ryan was right "This guy is dead and we are alive. I want to keep it that way"

"That's the spirit!" Ryan smiled at him.

"I'm not doing this"

"Alright" Ryan was annoyed "starve to death if you want. Toby, you know what to do. Jack, we need a fire..."

That night Jane was the only one who skipped dinner.


	15. Catching up

Chapter 15: Catching up

Ellie opened her eyes. After a couple of seconds, she stood up and walked towards the window. A large crowd was gathering at the main gate, Tommy was addresing them, she couldn't hear what he was saying, but people seemed worried.

"What's that all about?" she turned around and saw Joel's note on the floor. She read it. The note said Joel would be with Tommy, but Tommy was at the main gate now... She heard noises coming from the front door of the house. Joel and Jack's voices reached her from the first floor.

Before leaving the room Ellie turned to the drawer, the Rubik's cube was still there "I'll have to deal with you later" she still had 29 days to solve it.

Ellie went down the stairs. Joel and Jack were seated at the kitchen counter, they turned to her as soon as she entered the room.

"What's up with your arm?" She asked, looking at Jack's wounded arm, wrapped in bandages.

"A crazy ex-firefly shot at it with a 50 caliber sniper rifle... because he thought it would be funny" Jack said.

Ellie gave him a confused look "I don't get it"

"It's not a joke, Ellie." He looked at Joel for a second, and sighed "We were... ambushed, Ron is dead" he decided to be straightfoward about it.

Ellie didn't reacted immediately, it was too sudden. She have known Ron for more than a year, and then, just like that, he was gone.

"Oh..." she felt a hand on her shoulder. Joel was now standing next to her.

"C'mon kiddo, let's go get something to eat"

"Okay, Joel" this was not the best way to begin a day. She sat down next to Jack.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Of course not" she looked at Joel.

He opened the fridge and extracted a plate full of the food leftovers from the past week "beggars aren't choosers" he murmured. The 'leftovers plate' was the single most hated object in the whole house. Once a week they had the 'civic duty' of cleaning the plate, a disgusting mix of almost rotten cold meat, vegetables and fruits.

"Wow... Joel. You wanna know how to cheer people up? Offer them the worst meal possible" Jack said, trying to light up the mood. It didn't worked.

Ellie just accepted what Joel offered her and ate in silence. Joel and Jack did the same.

"You're dealing with this pretty well, Jack" Ellie said when she finished. She expected the death of his 'tower buddy' to affect him.

"I've been dealing with death since I was a liitle kid, I guess I just learned to accept it"

Ellie was about to ask him about that, but remembered that, when asked about his past, Jack always changed the subject immediately.

"So... what happened today? The details, I mean" She asked instead.

Jack hesitated for a second, but started talking about what happened that morning. He talked about the bloater, the surprise attack and Ryan and his group. He decided to skip details regarding his sister and appreciated Joel's silence about the topic.

"So the fireflies are dead..." Ellie said when he finished. News about Marlene death hit her hard, but the fall of the firelies was not something surprising, they've been struggling for a long time, it was just a matter of time, specially after they gave up looking for a cure. "And you say you know this Ryan, that means you..."

"I used to be a firefly, yes"

"It's kind of a big deal, why didn't you mention it before?"

"Everybody has secrets, if I don't see a point in revealing them, why should I?"

He was right, Ellie never told him about her immunity. Joel and Tommy were the only people in town who knew about her condition.

Joel talked next "You think Ryan is dangerous for the town?"

"He said he would be back and that it would not be pretty for us, and he meant it"

"We'll be ready" Ellie said.

"We'll be ready..." Jack repeated, trying to convince himself of it.

But he knew Ryan, they were not ready.


	16. Orphan

A/N: To answer cfulling3's question, no, right now I don't have a beta reader. But I've been looking for one.

If Someone reading this is a beta reader and is willing to help me with this story, please PM me. I'd appreciate it.

This chapter is another flashback (also extremely short). In the future I'll alternate between these and the main plot.

Well, I don't want the a/n to be longer than the chapter. So I'll leave you now, I hope you enjoy!

* * *

><p>Chapter 16: Orphan<p>

6-years old Jack was walking through the streets of Boston with his sister. The two siblins were heading to the medical center.

The streets were populated by all kinds of people. Jack was scared of them, the two kids never left the apartment alone, Daddy told them not to, he told them people were dangerous.

But they didn't have a choice, Daddy wasn't there, they were looking for him, he was in danger.

"There!" Jane said. The medical center appeared in the distance. It was a huge red building, a big white cross painted on the side.

They started running towards the building, eager to leave the streets as soon as possible.

The lobby of the medical center was full of stretchers, people with various injuries occupied them. An old nurse was walking among them.

The kids rushed towards her.

"Calm down kids, these people need to rest, you know" The nurse said when they reached her.

"Where's daddy?" Jack asked.

"Who?"

"He went outside this morning, he told us he would be back for lunch, but he wasn't back, and then someone came to the apartment and told us he was here. Where is he?"

"Kid, I can't do anything if you don't give me a name" she seemed to be annoyed.

"Dale Jordan" Jane said.

The nurse thinked for a second and then looked back a them. She wasn't annoyed anymore, she was sad. "kids, there is a Dale Jordan here, but..."

"Is he okay?" Jack hurriedly asked.

"No, he's not okay"

Jack was young, but not stupid. He knew what the nurse meant by that. He looked at his sister, and she looked at him.

They were alone now.


	17. Note

A/N: I'd like to thank cfulling3 for his help.

* * *

><p>Chapter 17: Note<p>

A day after Ryan's attack, Jack was once more seated at Watchtower No. 2, alone. He was waiting for his next partner. Tommy told him he would send someone soon to replace Ron.

The outside looked empty, no one to be seen on the cliffs or near the treeline. But he knew he was being watched, Ryan wouldn't just leave the town alone.

A noise reached him from the ladder, someone was coming. Jack stood up and waited. Just seconds later, Ellie's head popped-out from the side of the watchtower.

"Ellie, what are you doing here?"

She reached the top and stood up. "Isn't it obvious, I'm your new 'tower buddy' " she was carrying her backpack and a hunting rifle.

"But you're too young," only people 18 years old or older were eligible for watch duties.

"Tommy decided I'm good enough, I've been trying to convince him of that for a long time."

"And Joel?"

"He will know... eventually"

Jack sighed, Joel was going to be pissed.

"Okay, but remember, I had nothing to do with this."

"Okay..."

"Repeat"

Ellie rolled her eyes, "I'll tell Joel you had nothing to do with this."

"Great" he sat down again.

Ellie left her backpack on the floor, took the other chair and sat down besides him."What now?"

"We wait for our shift to end," He was nervous.

"What's wrong?"

"We don't know if someone out there is about to pull the trigger, every second could be our last"

"You're thinking of Ron?"

"Yes" Jack looked down, he didn't want to admit it, but he was scared. Ryan was ruthless, unpredictable, and extremely dangerous. He also was charismatic enough to gather a group of followers. But above all, he was a genius, there wasn't a problem he couldn't solve, he always managed to get things done the way he likes it. Jackson was not prepared to face someone like him. If he wanted to destroy the town, then the town was doomed.

"We'll be fine," Ellie said.

"I hope..." Jack didn't get to finish the sentence before an arrow impacted the side of the watchtower with a loud metallic sound.

Ellie raised her rifle, Jack did the same thing. They scanned the area and found nothing, whoever shot the arrow was gone now.

Ellie slowly put down the rifle and turned her head to the now broken arrow, it was laying on the floor, just below the point it impacted. "Look at that" she pointed at it.

There was a note attached to the arrow. Jack took it and read it out loud.

"Hi Jack. I want to talk. Tomorrow night... smiley face"

Ellie looked confused, "what the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know, but I guess I'll find out tomorrow night."


	18. Visit

Chapter 18: Visit

Joel sat down at Tommy's office. Ryan's attack left people scared, and now they had to address this new threat.

"We need to know where are they hiding," Joel said.

"Okay," Tommy took an old map from his desk and unrolled it. The map represented Jackson and it's surroundings. "Where you think is the best place to start?"

Joel stared at the map for a while. Finally, he pointed to an empty green space, "Here."

"What makes you think they are there?"

"You didn't mark it on this map, but that's Jack's town"

"Oh, shit," Tommy took a pencil and drew a small house where Joel pointed. Then, he wrote 'Jack's town' next to it. "There... now, you think they are hiding there?"

"We haven't been there for almost a month, that's enough time for a group to move in... you got any other idea?"

Tommy thought about it for a second, "I'll send a scout tomorrow, it's a good start."

"Now, what about Ron? He left a vacancy at the watchtower." Joel asked a minute later.

Tommy stared at him with a confused look on his face "Ellie didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"She came here earlier this morning, I gave her the job," Tommy leaned back in his chair, expecting an outburst from him.

Joel remained silent for what seemed like an eternity. Then he stood up, walked towards the door and opened it.

"Joel, where are you..."

"To the watchtower"

Tommy also stood up "Joel, please..."

"NO!" Joel left the room, leaving Tommy alone.

* * *

><p>"What are we going to do?" Ellie asked Jack, who was still holding Ryan's note.<p>

"Nothing," Jack said with a calm tone.

"What!?"

"Look, I know Ryan, this is probably just him messing with me. He wants me to be scared of what may happen tomorrow night."

"But..."

"I'm not saying he will not try anything tomorrow. I'm just saying we can't do shit about it, so we shouldn't worry too much," he read the piece of paper again and sighed, "Let's give this to Tommy, he will decide what to make of it."

Ellie didn't like the feeling of being useless. But against a threat like this, two teenagers wouldn't be able to do much, "You're right."

A noise reached them from the ladder and Joel's head appeared at the corner of the watchtower, followed by the rest of his body.

"Just for the record Joel, I had nothing to do with this," Jack said before anyone could say anything.

"Shut up, kid," Joel was pissed. He turned to Ellie, "You have anything to say?"

"Em... no"

"Good, now let's go," Joel gestured towards the ladder.

"But Tommy said..."

"Ellie, I don't care. This is dangerous and you're still too young, so c'mon," Joel was clearly trying not to lose his temper.

"Don't push him," Jack whispered into Ellie's ear.

Without saying anything else Ellie walked towards the corner and went down the ladder. Joel looked surprised.

"You didn't expect her to comply so quickly, did you?"

"No... what did you say?"

Jack shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing special, I guess I'm the voice of reason... she's capable, you know."

"I know," Joel said before going down the ladder, leaving Jack alone again.

* * *

><p>Two days after Ryan's attack, Tommy was seated at his office, waiting.<p>

Someone knocked on the door. "Come in," Tommy said.

The door opened and Derek came in "Tommy, why did you call me?" He sat down on the other side of the desk.

Tommy unrolled the map of Jackson, "I need you to check on this place, Derek" He pointed towards Jack's town.

"Let me guess, you think the new group is there."

"I do."

Derek thought about it for a second, "When?"

"As soon as possible."

"After lunch then, I should be back before dinner, it's just a couple of miles."

"Don't take any risks, go on foot."

"I know, I know, a horse can be too noisy."

Tommy stood up, "Remember, we only want to know if the town is occupied, nothing else, okay?"

"Understood," Derek stood up as well and walked towards the door.

"Derek," Tommy said before he could leave, "I have evidence they might try something tonight, so be careful, please."

"Don't worry, Tommy."

* * *

><p>"You're for real, Joel?" Ellie asked.<p>

"For real, once we deal with this new group, I'll let you join the watch. But for now, you stay here on the ground, okay?" Joel have been thinking about this the whole day. They were having dinner at the kitchen counter, the sky outside was already dark.

"That's a fucking deal," Ellie would prefer to start right now, but she knows this is the best she would get from Joel.

"What's the problem, kid? You're quiet tonight," Joel asked Jack.

"I'm tired, that's all," It was a lie, he was nervous. Tommy told him not to talk about the note with anyone, he didn't want to spread panic.

"It's about Ryan's note?"

"How did..."

"You really thought Tommy wouldn't tell me? I have the second night shift, everyone with watch duties tonight know about it. So don't worry, we're ready for anything."

Joel's words didn't help him, "I hope you're right."

Jack stood up, unable to eat more deer meat, "I'm going to sleep, I'll feel better on the morning," And without saying anything else, he left the kitchen and headed to his room.

He didn't even undress before jumping into the bed "the next time I open my eyes again, it will be morning, and everything will be fine," He murmured and closed his eyes.

Jack drifted away of the real world into his subconscious. He was a little kid now. He was back into his old apartment in Boston.

"I'll be back soon," Daddy told him before closing the door.

"He'll not be back, little Jack, he's dead now," he heard his own voice coming out of the walls. "He's dead and you're alone,"

"No, he'll be back, he always come back," Jack knew that was a lie, but the words came out of his mouth anyways.

"First him, then Jane. Just wait, and Jackson will follow. Sooner or later, you'll be alone again"

"Jack," this time he heard Ryan's voice, "Jack."

"I'm not afraid of you, you're not here" Jack stood still, unable to move.

"Jack," Ryan called for him again.

"You're not here."

"Jack... wake up."

"You're not here."

He opened his eyes. He was laying on his bed again. The lights turned on.

"Wow, electricity without the need of a generator, amazing." Ryan said.

It was impossible, but somehow, Ryan was there. He turned to Jack and grinned, "Your face is hilarious; I wish you could see it"

Ryan was carrying a black plastic bag in his left hand and a hangun in his right hand.

"How?" Jack managed to ask.

"Sneaking into the town was easy, figuring out where you live was also easy; almost no one here knows my face, so I just asked," Ryan turned off the lights and rested his back on the wall, right next to the open window, the lights from outside were enough to see him clearly. "I just want to ask you one thing: how are you still alive?"

Jack didn't say anything, both unable and unwilling to. But Ryan remained silent, waiting for an answer.

"I don't know," The words came out almost as a whisper, even Jack could hear the fear in them. He sounded like a scared toddler. "I don't know how I survived."

"Interesting, so you have a tough side after all, even if it's hidden behind that scared little baby," Ryan turned around and faced the window.

"So that's all you wanted? You'll just leave now?"

"You just told me everything I wanted to know... and your face when you saw me made this little incursion worth the trouble. Oh, and I came across this in my way here, do whatever you want with it." he left the black bag on the floor.

A second later, Ryan was gone.

Jack slowly stood up and closed the window. His legs were shaking, he felt he could collapse at any moment. He turned to the black bag and, without waiting any longer, grabbed it, opened it and took a look inside. Derek's head stared back at him.


	19. Streets

Chapter 19: Streets

8-year-old Jack was starving. He had nothing to eat for days. The streets of Boston were empty due to the curfew. Jane was seated besides him, and they were hiding in a narrow alleyway; there was nothing but a lot of trash there.

"Attention, curfew now in full effect," They heard the familiar voice coming from a nearby street.

"I'm hungry, Jane," That was an understatement, both of them were at the verge of death.

"I know but..." She suddenly stopped and focused on something on her right, "Look."

Jack turned his head, a big rat was exploring a small pile of trash just a few feet away from them.

"You feel like moving now?" Jane whispered.

"Yes. What's the plan?" Jack answered, also whispering.

"Take that newspaper right there, I'm going to scare the rat, it'll run this way. You'll catch it. Okay?"

"Okay," Jack moved as slowly as possible, trying not to scare off the rat. He took a wet and dirty newspaper from the floor right next to him. "Do it."

Jane crawled a few feet away from him and located herself right behind the rat. She took an empty can from the floor and dropped it, producing a loud noise that echoed across the alleyway.

The rat immediately left the pile of trash and ran away from her, this was his chance. Jack raised the newspaper and covered the rat with it, creating an improvised cage.

He quikly took the rat's body, wrapped in the newspaper. It was shaking and twisting, trying to break free. He squeezed as hard as he could with his small hands until he heard a cracking noise, the rat stood still.

He dropped the lifeless body on the floor and unwrapped it.

"Dead?" Jane asked.

"Dead."

They had no means to build a fire, so Jack just ripped up the skin of the animal with his own hands and they both ate until the only thing left was a small pile of broken bones and fur.

"I'll never get used to raw meat," Jane commented after a long period of silence.

"That or dying, pick one."

"You're right."

The rat wasn't much, but it was enough to survive another day. They wouldn't have to worry about how to survive until the next day.


	20. Calm

Chapter 20: Calm

Joel was tense. Few times in the last year he felt like this.

He was at Watchtower No. 1, scanning the outside for the hundredth time that night. He had his rifle prepared for action; anything could happen at any time and he was ready.

"Joel!" Joel turned his head, a young man in his mid-twenties was staring at him. He had a pale skin, short blonde hair and dark eyes, and his beard made him look like a younger version of Tommy. "If you don't relax you're gonna make some rushed decisions."

"When dealing with the outside world rushed decisions are the ones that keep you alive, boy."

"Shoot first, ask later?"

"Just shoot, if you stop to ask, you're dead."

That idea seemed to disturb the young man. "Anyway, you should relax," He said before sitting down. "Ah, my legs were killing me."

"You're literally half my age, Dave," Joel was standing up, he have been walking around the watchtower for hours and he didn't even fell tired.

"Yes, I am. That means you probably have to rest too, you have been walking around for hours."

"I'm fine."

They remained silent while Joel examined the outside once again, the lights at the gate were enough to illuminate all the way to the treeline, so Joel didn't have much problems with the darkness of the night.

"You think they'll try something tonight?" Dave asked.

"I don't know, just be prepared."

"I am," Dave did seem nervous. He never shot at someone before, he only had experience with infected. Joel thought that could be a problem in case of a confrontation.

"You sure?"

Dave sighed, "No"

"Look, if anything happens tonight, or any other day. I need someone I can trust by my side."

Dave looked down and remained silent for a minute, "I'll be there," this time he sounded more confident.

"Good, now..."

The walkie-talkie on his waist emmitted a sound. Joel answered the call, "Watchtower 1."

"Joel," It was Tommy, "Come to my office, now"

"Something's wrong?"

"Yes, I'm sending someone to replace you. But you should be here."

"Tommy, What's wrong?"

Tommy paused before answering, "They snuck into the town and broke into your house, Ellie and Jack are here with me."

Joel didn't need to hear anything else.


	21. Problems

Chapter 21: Problems

Joel ran through the main street, focussing on locating the small white building in the darkness of the night. He saw it to his left, five minutes after abandoning the watchtower. He rushed to the entrance and got in.

This small edification, as unimpressive in the inside as on the outside, was basically a small one-story white house, but could be considered to be the brain of Jackson, every important decision was taken within its walls.

The living room was completely empty with the exception of three wooden chairs located near the wall at his right, this was some sort of waiting room. But Joel had no intention of waiting, he ran towards the door on his left, which had a small sign nailed to it that readed 'Tommy's office', and opened it.

Although Tommy said Ellie and Jack were okay, seeing them seated in front of his desk was a huge relief. The two teenegers stood up and Tommy did the same. The three of them remained silent. Joel took a minute to catch his breath.

"Are you two okay?" He asked, still breathing heavily.

"Not exactly," Ellie answered with a distant tone.

They slowly sat down again. Ellie's answer was not what worried Joel the most. The depressing atmosphere was enough to intuit something bad had happened.

"What..."

"This is what happened," Tommy interrupted him and pointed at a black plastic bag on the desk.

Joel walked towards it without hesitation, but he doubted before seeing what was inside. Jack, Tommy and Ellie remained silent. Whatever was in the bag, it was not good. Joel opened it, a disgusting but recognizable smell reached his nose.

"God..." There was a head inside, he instantly recognized Derek.

"I sent him to the town, I told him not to take any risks," Tommy said with a sad tone. Joel knew he felt guilty for sending one of his men to his death, but this was something a leader like him should be able to deal with.

Joel closed the bag, Tommy immediately stood up, took the bag and left it at a corner. He went back to his chair and collapsed into it, visibly exhausted, "At least we can say the mission was somewhat successful. Now all the evidence points to the town," Tommy whispered, more to himself than to anyone else.

Joel rested his back on the wall and the office fell silent again. Joel didn't understand exactly what happened yet, who brought the head? Did he or she just leave Jackson afterwards? What was the point of sneaking in?

"You think they are still here?" Joel asked. Based on Tommy's expression Joel could deduce what he was about to say.

"I have men looking for anything suspicious, if he's here, we'll find him."

"He?"

"Ryan."

Joel connected the dots, so Ryan snuck into the town without anyone noticing and left the head in his house, but why bothering? Why his house?. He could only think of one reason: Jack. He turned his head to the boy.

Jack hadn't said anything since Joel got there. He had his eyes closed and his arms crossed, and was muttering something in a very low, almost inaudible, voice, not paying attention to his surroundings. Joel have seen him do this before, usually when confronted with some sort of decision.

Both Joel and Ellie have grown accustomed to this habit, but Tommy was staring at him with a curious expression on his face.

Jack suddenly opened his eyes, he was clearly conflicted about something.

"Tommy," he said, "you have to make a deal with him."

Joel thought he was crazy, Ryan didn't seems like the kind of people you can negociate with, specially after what he have done.

Tommy seemed to think the same thing, he stared at Jack with the same expression as before, as if he found him amusing.

"That's a stupid idea," Tommy said, voicing his honest opinion.

"Please," Jack leaned forward, a worried expression on his face, "I know Ryan, if you offer him something good, he'll leave this place alone."

"And then what, kid? He'll come back looking for more. I'm not afraid of a small group of bandits, I dealt with stuff like this before," Tommy talked to him like he would talk with a stubborn child.

Jack stood up and raising his voice, he said, "You haven't dealt with this guy before! Ryan. always. wins, no matter what. Reaching an agreement is our only chance now," Jack's fear affected Joel more than his words. If Ryan was able to make him beg for something, that meant he was a force to be reckoned with. Ellie seemed to share his opinion.

Tommy stood up as well with a dark expression on his face, "All chance of peace with this new group died with Ron. I'm the leader here and I'm going to deal with this threat as I see fit, do you understand?" Tommy never liked people telling him what to do. After all, he was the leader for a reason.

"I don't-"

"I don't care," Tommy interrupted Jack mid-sentence. And keeping his tone calm, he continued "I'll not tolerate a goddamn kid questioning my decisions. Now, If you don't have anything useful to add, please leave. It's late and I have more important things to do than wasting my time with you."

Jack's fear slowly morphed into anger. Joel never saw him losing his temper, but apparently Tommy hit a soft spot.

Although Tommy conserved his cold expression, Joel could tell he was annoyed by the boy.

"Okay, so be it," Jack muttered, realizing he wouldn't be able to change Tommy's opinion, he turned around and opened the door, "I hope we don't regret this later," he said, struggling to keep his anger at bay, before leaving.

Joel had some experience with angry teenagers, he knew they could be unpredictable. "Ellie, make sure he reaches the house in one piece. Would ya?"

Ellie stood up and walked towards the door, "You aren't coming?" she asked with a hand on the doorknob.

"Later, now go, get some sleep."

Ellie opened the door and left, calling for Jack.

Joel closed the door and sat down on the chair Ellie occupied moments before. He sighed, trying to release some tension, he was mentally and physically exhausted.

"You wanna know what's the problem with him?" Tommy sat down, keeping a serious expression, "He doesn't know what's his role here."

In other circumstances Joel would have found Tommy's annoyance funny. But right now, they had a serious problem to deal with.

"You should listen to the boy."

Tommy couldn't believe what he just heard, "You say we should-"

"Of course not." Peace was not an option. Joel knew no one in Jackson would accept it, especially after what happened with Ron and now Derek. "I'm just saying that Jack seems to be afraid of Ryan and I bet there's a reason for-"

"I know, Joel," Tommy interrupted him and sighed, "Look, you'll have to trust in my judgement, okay?"

Joel nodded without hesitation. He trusted his little brother.

"Good. Now go get some sleep, god knows you need it."


	22. Toby

Chapter 22: Toby

Toby was resting his right shoulder on the side of a cabin at the edge of the 'town', a collection of small cabins and some two-storey houses, staring at the tree line in front of him, his flashlight was the only source of light. He didn't know for how much time he had been waiting for Ryan, but he was starting to get nervous, he was taking too long.

Ryan's whole plan was ridiculous. He would sneak into Jackson, have a talk with Jack and get out. Why? Toby didn't know. How? Toby also didn't know. But he didn't want to question him. Ryan might sound like a crazy guy, but he was the only reason he was still alive.

Toby was the one in the group who knew Ryan the most and the only one who knew Jack. Thinking about him and his time with the Fireflies always made him angry. First John and Jane died, then Jack suddenly disappeared, and when they finally reached Salt Lake City, just a pile of bones greeted them. Long story short, things weren't good.

"Doing some deep thinking?" A voice coming from behind made him jump, he quickly turned. Ryan was right in front of him, with a big smile on his face.

Toby took a minute to catch his breath. Ryan scared the shit out of him, but Toby was happy he returned, "You enjoy scaring the shit out of people, don't you?"

Ryan chuckled a couple of times before answering, "It's one of those things that never gets old," his smile slowly fade away. He turned to the town, lost in his thoughts. Toby remained silent, waiting for Ryan to continue.

"I had some time to think in my way back. Let me just ask you something, do you think I'm blind?" Ryan finally broke the silence, his voice lacking any trace of his usual cheerful tone. He turned back to Toby and looked him in the eye, "I can see how everyone here is starting to doubt, starting to ask questions about me, seemingly forgetting everything I've done for them."

Although Toby was taller than him, he felt tiny, "Everyone here thinks you are a great leader, we owe our lives to you," he said, doing his best to hide his fear.

"But..." Ryan urged him to continue, with a tinge of anger in his voice.

"Emm... some of the guys think you are not... handling Jackson very well, they believe this should have ended days ago," Toby looked down, feeling ashamed of himself.

"Some of the guys..." Ryan waited until Toby looked up at him to continue, "you included?

Toby nodded. "Th-the original plan was solid, calling off the attack was a mistake" he could feel the cold sweat on his back. Toby didn't knew how Ryan would react to him questioning his judgement and authority, he have never done that before.

Ryan shrugged, "Good," suddenly going back to his usual light-hearted tone of voice.

His attitude caught him off-guard, "Good?"

"Good to know people here can think by themselves. A group completely dependant on the leader is a weak group," his words were reassuring for Toby "Good night, Toby. And don't worry, I'll give details about what happened tonight tomorrow morning," Ryan said while turning on his own flashlight.

"Good night, Ryan."

His leader turned around and started walking away, his silhouette disappeared behind a corner a minute later.

Toby rested his back on the wooden wall of the cabin, breathing a sigh of relief, things turned out better than expected and he felt better now he finally voiced his concerns.

He remembered he was on shift, but everything seemed calm and he was more relaxed now that Ryan was back.

Walking down the main street, he kept his ears open for anything suspicious, aware a lone infected could ambush him at any moment.

"Toby," another voice coming from behind him made him jump again. He turned, the newest member of the group was standing in front of him. Stacy, a twenty-something pale brunette, gave him a smirk. "Sorry, did I scare you?" she said in a sarcastically.

"As a matter of fact, you did," Toby said, "What are you doing awake so late?"

"It's 4 o'clock, your shift just ended, dummy."

Toby was surprised by this, it was really that late? This meant Ryan took longer than he thought coming back. But he was happy to been able to rest, he was exhausted. "Really? I guess time flies when you're bored shitless."

Stacy chuckled "Slow night?"

"As always, but keep your eyes peeled, okay?"

"Sure thing, I got this. Go get some sleep," Ryan accepted her into the group just a month ago, just days before reaching the small deserted settlement, and she seemed eager to prove her worth.

"Alright. See you tomorrow," Toby left her alone and headed towards a small cabin on the other end of town. He opened the front door, the cabin was composed by a single room, with just had a bed and a fireplace inside, but it was enough for him.

Toby unloaded his handgun and left it beside the bed, together with his jacket and a worn pair of boots.

He lay down on the mattress and, before he could think of anything, he fell asleep.


End file.
